Any Dayton-local theatre people who might happen to read this will know all about
"Pay What You Can night."

The Human Race Theatre Company
almost always (if not always) opens up the Final Dress rehearsals of its productions
for students and others who can't quite make the range of ticket prices for the
official performances. The Final Dress is the Wednesday of opening week, and the
event is called the Pay What You Can Night, affectionately referred to as "Can
Night."

The price of admission is a few cans of non-perishable food items or a cash donation.
The canned food goes to The Food Bank
and the cash goes to one of several charitable organizations. For specific
productions the organization may be somehow tied into the the theme of the show if
such is relevant.

At 6:30, in the lobby of the Loft Theatre, the ushers hand out numbered lotto tickets,
in chronological order. At 7:30 they then call out blocks of numbers, such as
"One through Twenty" and those with tickets in that range can go into the
house and find a seat. then 21-30, 31-40, or whatever the blocks happen to be.

One wants to be there well before 6:30 because a line will start forming around 5:30
or so and each audience member will want the lowest ticket number possible.

You want to be sure you are back in the lobby at 7:30 when they call the range your
number is in, because if you snooze you loose. Don't know if you will not be able
to get in, that would depend on how many people show up, but if you were in the first
group but missed it, you obviously lost your advantage.

It's a great thing, this Can Night! If you're local and have a modest bank account,
take advantage of it if you need to.